Friday, June 9, 2017

Private railway travel evokes some rather splendid
images; The Orient Express and The Golden Eagle are but two of the companies
offering the most luxurious of travel on board their private railway carriages.
And wonderful they are too, to which I can attest.

However, the Premier Classe product offered by South African
Railways is in a different league altogether, and it is welcome and a most
interesting experience.

The bar car - sadly closed when needed after dinner

The operator is Shosholoza Meyl, a division of the
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa. The product is straightforward; passage
between Johannesburg and Cape Town or Durban, with each route operating once or
twice per week. The train is elderly; built about eighty

years ago and the carriages have been refurbished many, many times. With a little imagination, I think, it is possible to catch a hint of the scent of steam trains, unforgettable for those of us who were around in the Days Of Steam. Today they are comfortable, in the way of an older seaside boarding
house, and more than serviceable.

The Dining Car - dimly lit for atmosphere

The train is long; seven sleeping carriages each offering
accommodation in eight two or four-berth cabins, two dining cars, one bar car
and a smoking wagon (at the very back). This seemed a touch over the top for
the twenty-one of us that boarded in Johannesburg, but there you are. The train
is a set, and all eleven carriages travel together, plus a required and variable
number of car-carriers, for a number of passengers use this service instead of
driving to the coast.

Firstly,
the price; passage in/on Premier Classe costs R3,150 (US$250). In comparison,
passage on the Blue Train starts at R15,000 ($1,250) in the low season, and
R19,000 ($1,500) in the peak. Mind you, the Blue Train starts in Pretoria, thus
avoiding the rather dystopian centre of Johannesburg where the Premier Classe originates, and they stop for a glass
of sherry at Matjiesfontein on the northbound journey and a quick whizz around
the diamond centre at Kimberley on the southbound leg.

The Premier Classe lumbers along.

The Groovy Stools

I rather liked it. My cabin was small but perfectly
proportioned, the bed comfortable and the linen fresh. The housecoat, which we
were admonished to leave behind, let the side down a bit, but was functional.
The room was warm, the lighting good and the electrical supply sufficient to
keep my phone in action.

The lounge car was pleasant in a dated way. It felt
comfortable and familiar, the familiarity that comes with venues of decades of
ribaldry and boozing; slightly awkwardly furnished, and too small if the train
were full, it would have been a fine place to while away the evening had it
been open.

Curiously, it was open as we boarded and were led into
the bar car to be offered champagne and a briefing about the trip. It remained
open until just prior to dinner, which was served early for some reason, but when
we emerged, sated but in need of a night-cap or two at eight o’ clock, it was oddly
shuttered.

The food was plentiful, and again, most certainly not The
Blue Train, but more than adequate. Three courses at lunch and five in the
evening were generous and ample given the lack of recreational space available.
The service, it must be said, was generally cheery, although sometimes slightly
off key. The wine list was good, with bottles ranging from R80 ($6), but oddly,
non served by the glass. Mind you, at those process one could simply order
another bottle.

The journey was lovely. Once past the endless, dreary and
emphatically-littered suburbs of Johannesburg, and before the same grim
outskirts that heralded our approach to Cape Town, thee scenery was lovely, and
the light delightful. The evening rolled along as we passed through endless
Savannah, with wispy bushes, the dry ochres of winter and a clear blue sky that
gradually melted into sunset. By the next morning we were in hillier country
that rose to become snow covered mountains on each flank of the valley through
which we rattled along.

Evening and morning views from the train

When we woke, vineyards were everywhere; the
wealth of this precious commodity there for all to see. Village life, the
unfolding countryside and the evidence of the fierce storm that had hit two
days previously punctuated the landscapes, and pretty soon we were running late.
It mattered little, as for most travellers who choose the train, we are there
for the sense of timelessness that rail travel can still offer in this hectic
age.

Paradise, our main man on board, kept things going pretty
well inside the train, but alas had no control over signals and the speed of
other locomotives. Thus, our affection for timelessness was well placed, for we
had three bonus hours and an unexpected lunch, and finally rolled into the CapeTown station at about 3.30pm.

It was a lovely trip. It is a perfect way to travel
between the great South African cities; not quite a simple overnight train, and
yet not quite the ambiance of a private-train. It was a fine hybrid, and all
the more enjoyable for the foibles that can only come with eighty-year-old
rolling stock, many times refurbished, a multinational passenger group and the
warmth that comes from being in the company of staff who are happy to be there,
and more importantly, happy that you are there too.